A few weeks ago the Red Bull team announced the signing of Ben Hodgkinson, former Mercedes’ head of mechanical engineering, as their new technical director.

Today, the team has signed five more senior engine staff, previously working for the Silver Arrows, to help drive forward its new power unit push in Formula 1.

To be more specific, the staff moving from the German car manufacturer to the current most dangerous opponent include:

Steve Blewett, Mercedes' head of manufacturing, who will become Red Bull's power unit production director.

Anton Mayo, a Mercedes engineering team leader, will be head of power unit design ICE, while Steve Brodie, Mercedes' F1 trackside and final inspection manager, will become Red Bull's Group Leader ICE Operations.

Mercedes' F1 electronics team leader Omid Mostaghimi, who will be Red Bull's head of powertrains, electronics and ERS.

Lastly, Pip Clode, who is the F1 power unit concept team leader at Mercedes and will be Red Bull's head of mechanical design ERS.

Red Bull will also welcome a new Head of Mechanical Development, whose name will be announced in the coming weeks.

Red Bull’s decision of appointing such talented and expert names in key areas depend on the newly formed Red Bull Powertrains, which was created after Honda chose to leave Formula One, and thus leaving Red Bull without an engine supplier.

Red Bull Powertrains is pleased to announce the expansion of its senior leadership team 💪👇

— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) May 6, 2021

As can be read on the official announcement, Red Bull Powertrains has embarked on a recruitment programme aimed at building an expert technical team capable of taking Red Bull’s power unit operation to race and championship-winning success.

Team principal Christian Horner commented on the announcement saying:

"Red Bull's mission to bring all aspects of its Formula 1 operations in-house through Red Bull Powertrains is an enormously exciting undertaking but also an extremely demanding one, and we know that success will only be achieved by bringing in the best and brightest talent, by providing them with the right tools and by creating the right environment in which they can thrive.

The Red Bull Powertrain is a state-of-the-art engine facility being built at Milton Keynes campus, with the aim of creating all power units in-house.

"Today's key leadership team appointments demonstrate our strong commitment to those goals and we certainly benefit from our campus being located in the UK where we have access to a huge wealth of engineering talent.

"Working with our new technical director, Ben Hodgkinson, and alongside key personnel retained from Honda Racing Development, each of the senior personnel announced today brings a wealth of experience, expertise and innovation to the Red Bull Powertrains programme and provide us with the strongest possible technical platform for the future."

The move of key staff from Mercedes to Red Bull is certainly not ideal for the Germans, especially in light of Red Bull’s performances, which are putting pressure on the current title’s defenders.

However, Mercedes boss  Toto Wolff said recently he was not worried about having to ramp up wages in an attempt to avoid personnel being attracted away.

"We will lose some, we will win some," he said. "But at the end of the day, I believe in the philosophy of Mercedes, and I believe that we are a really good employer.

"It's a place where there's high pressure, but there's also a lot of fun. We can be proud of that and we have to rely on that.

"There will always be a back and forth. But let's put it this way, I understand where Christian is coming from, he wants to build a structure and that's where you have to write a big cheque sometimes. But that's okay."